FAQ

FAQFAQ
For those interested, some basic questions answered: Q) Who is the writer of this blog? A) Please read the About Me link to learn...um, about... me. Q) Where do you live? A) I live in Brooklyn, New York. Q) So what is this "Jtown" I read about sometimes? A) Johnstown, Pennsylvania. It's where I grew up from middle school on. I frequently go back to visit my folks who live there. I love both Johnstown and Brooklyn, and I'm really happy I get to have both in my life. Q) How do you get to travel so much? A) I am single and I make a reasonable amount of money and I like to travel. Q) Where have you traveled? I've been to 49 states. I have lived and studied in Scotland, England and Ireland. I've been to most of the provinces in Canada, France and Wales, too. Q) Who is "Roo"? A) Roo is Andrew, my best friend. We have been friends since college. He is not my boyfriend. Q) Come on, he is your boyfriend. A) Nope. He has a fantastic partner who puts up with our annoying ways and he is a light of my life, but he's not my boyfriend. Q) Why are you single? A) Oh, honey. Pull up a chair. No, actually, that can really be summed up by simply saying, I haven't met the right guy yet. I hope I will. But if I don't, that's ok too. I have had a great life so far and I plan to keep that up. Q) You write about teaching and/or your students sometimes. Where do you teach? A) I teach High School English. I've taught in private and public schools. You can find out this information elsewhere on the internet, if you're so inclined, but on this blog, I try to avoid talking about my students or school in a way that violates their privacy. Q) Do your students read your blog? A) Yes, sometimes they do. My more tech-savvy students often stumble upon it when searching my name on google, and others go to see it after I mention it. If I write about school, I sometimes show my students the post. So far as I know, they've all thought it was cool and not been upset about it. I have also helped them start blogs when they were interested. Q) Will you help me publish my work? A) I have no connections to particularly help you in that realm, so, no, I'm sorry, I can't. Q) Will you read some of my work? A) I have over 500 former students, 120 current students, and quite a few writing friends, so I only read the work of people I actually know. I'm kind of a harsh critic, anyway, so it's probably for the best if I don't read your work. Q) What is your writing like? A) I write a lot of different things, in many different styles, so it's hard to say. I've written everything from a farce about fake stigmata to a drama about faith and religion in the 1800's. Q) What is your favorite of your works? A) I genuinely love all of them, but there's something about the short play "Horatio & Ismene" that particularly captures me and what I love about theatre. Also, I've never seen a bad production of it, which is EXTREMELY helpful in liking it so much. Q) You write about making things sometimes. What kind of things do you make? A) I sew and knit, principally. I also like to cook, bake and can. I enjoy papercrafts, including scrapbooking, and I like to do home improvement projects (like painting furniture) too. Beyond that, I've tried pottery, stained glass, macrame, crochet, embroidery, quilling and weaving. Q) Who is "Mr. Crankypants"? A) I've written a book about the writer Henry David Thoreau, and I call him "Mr. Crankypants" in it. Q) Why do you sometimes use initials and sometimes full names for friends and family? A) I try to use first initials if they do not already have a web presence or if they are parents of young children or they are, actually, young children. I sometimes forget about this. Whoopsy. Q) I have written a book that would be PERFECT for visualthesaurus.com. Can I send it to you? Would you send it to the editors? A) This happens a lot. No, I'm sorry, I really can't help you get your work to visualthesaurus.com. That would imply that I'm endorsing your work, and I can't do that without knowing you. However, IF you think that I, personally, would be interested in your book or work, feel free to email me about it (the link is on the home page) and ask me. Q) Why do you seem to know so much about random things? A) I read a lot. Q) Are you available for talks, web seminars, classes and such? A) Sure. I can talk about teaching, writing, books, crafting, theatre, playwriting, American Literature and a bunch of other stuff. I'm happy to lead workshops or give a straight-up talk. I can do guest posts on blogs, too. Please email me for more information. Q) Can I read one of your plays? A) Of course! Email me which one you'd like to read and I'll send you a copy. Q) I have a question that is not answered here. A) Email me !

May 19, 2007

Up on the Roof

One-act, approximately 25 minutes.

2 men (50ish, 25ish), 2 women (50ish, 27ish). If Thornton Wilder met the Kingston Trio, this one-act would be the result. On a Thanksgiving evening, Holly has taken refuge on the roof of her parents’ home, throwing her family’s annual hootenanny into disarray. Her brother, Taylor, and famous folk-singer parents, Nick and Dorothy, try to coax Holly down, or at least find out what’s wrong. Eventually, they sort of do, and they sort of don’t, and the hootenanny, like life, goes on. A comic story of love, laughter and maracas, this play was part of the Pittsburgh New Works Festival in 2005.